Voy a afinar la guitarra.

to go

Breakdown of Voy a afinar la guitarra.

• a: to
• la guitarra: the guitar
• afinar: to tune

Questions & Answers about Voy a afinar la guitarra.

Why is voy a afinar used instead of a simple future form like afinaré?

Voy a + infinitive is a very common way to talk about the near future in Spanish, especially in everyday speech.

So:

• Voy a afinar la guitarra = I’m going to tune the guitar
• Afinaré la guitarra = I will tune the guitar

Both are correct, but voy a afinar often sounds more natural in conversation when you mean something you’re about to do or intend to do soon.

What exactly does voy mean here?

Voy is the first-person singular present form of ir, which means to go.

So:

• ir = to go
• voy = I go / I am going

In the structure voy a + infinitive, it does not mean physical movement. It works like I’m going to... in English.

Why is there an a after voy?

In voy a afinar, the a is part of the fixed structure ir a + infinitive.

This structure means to be going to do something:

• Voy a comer = I’m going to eat
• Vamos a salir = We’re going to go out
• Va a llover = It’s going to rain

So in your sentence:

• Voy a afinar la guitarra = I’m going to tune the guitar

This a is not the same as the personal a used before some direct objects.